The Korean rivals are turning to smartphone-style smarts to enhance picture quality and serve up movie and TV show recommendations.
Samsung’s new NEO QLED TVs can control your smart home
Samsung’s new televisions include a range of 8K and 4K models that use its NEO QLED display technology.
Their visuals are typically a notch below pricier OLED sets, but only the most zealous cinephiles will notice the difference.
The QN990F is this year’s flagship model, an 8K TV with barely there borders available from 65-inch to massive 98-inch screen sizes. With one of these on your wall, you may never venture to the cinema again.
It features an upgraded version of the Glare-Free screen tech (to eliminate reflections) found in last year’s Samsung S95 OLED TV.
Throw in support for 240Hz at a 4K resolution, and the new model looks set to be a great choice for binge-watchers and gamers.
Samsung’s NEO QLED 8K TV can look up recipes from what you’re watching using AI
Samsung
Under the hood, a beefier processor powers Samsung’s new “Vision AI” features, which offer everything from real-time subtitles on the fly to info about the actors on screen.
Syncing with your other smart-home gadgets, the AI can even ping you safety alerts and daily updates, auto-dim your lights when you nod off in front of the TV, and watch for unusual behaviour in pets or family members.
Samsung’s biggest TV screens stretch to more than 100 inches
Samsung
LG’s new OLED TVs feature brightness-boosting AI
AI TVs are set to be a big trend this year if CES 2025 is anything to go by. The tech is also integral to the new OLED line-up unveiled by LG at the consumer tech conference.
A crop of new evo G5 and M5 models carry the company’s latest AI chip and come with Microsoft’s Copilot AI baked in. The chatbot is designed to help you troubleshoot when you’re stuck in a jam, saving you having to rifle through settings. Copilot is also available on Samsung’s new sets, with the company promising to add support for Google’s AI down the line.
LG’s new OLED TVs offer three times more brightness, according to the company
LG
Back with LG’s TVs, AI also plays a part in the sound quality by picking from the different audio and video modes to suit each user. Meanwhile, AI Voice ID can identify who is using the TV, switch to their preferred profile and recommend content based on their preferences.
For gamers, the G5 series – ranging from 55- to 83-inch display sizes – is apparently the first to feature 4K 165Hz VRR TV that is certified by Nvidia G-Sync and AMD FreeSync Premium. The upgrades bring it closer to the kind of specs you’d find on a top-notch gaming monitor.
In terms of visuals, LG is taking a new approach to solving the brightness problem with OLEDs, which can’t hit the same peak brightness as LCDs and other types of TV displays.
LG’s TVs let you talk to Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot when you need help tweaking the settings
LG
Previously, the company relied on something called a micro-lens array – placing billions of tiny convex lenses above OLED pixels to increase brightness by redirecting and optimising light transmission.
Now, it’s ditching that tech in favour of light-boosting algorithms that “achieve brightness three times higher than conventional OLED models”, per LG. As a result, the TVs apparently output even better black levels during the day and with the lights off.
Like Samsung, LG will announce pricing closer to the release dates of the models later this year.